Tourism industry in Rostock and Warnemünde

Tourism industry

Over the past few decades, the tourism industry has become one of the most important economic factors in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. As an economic, tourism and cultural centre, the city is now an important hub for national and international business in the region. With its unique location by the water and the combination of a large city, attractive seaside resort, the original natural landscape of Rostock Heath and one of the most beautiful beaches along the German Baltic Sea coast, Rostock has also become one of the most popular holiday destinations in Germany.

Especially the growth of the cruise liner industry in Rostock and Warnemünde, which has created Germany’s largest cruise ship harbour (kreuzfahrtschiffe.html), as well as enhanced promotion among foreign markets and new connections with flights to Rostock-Laage have led to a growing number of foreign guests in Rostock in recent years. Maritime flagships, such as the Hanse Sail and Warnemünde Week, attract thousands of spectators from all over the world each year. Rostock has the best conditions to develop into a premium brand, both nationally and internationally. With the Tourism Concept 2022, there is a comprehensive programme with guidelines to shape tourism in Rostock over the coming years.

38,000 guests per day

In the past few years, Rostock and Warnemünde have set a rapid pace in the development of tourism. The number of rooms and people staying overnight have grown continuously. With a record of 1.9 million nights spent in Rostock in 2014, Rostock was the frontrunner in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the most popular tourist destination in Germany. This means that on average, Rostock has 38,000 visitors staying here each day. There are also countless holidaymakers from other places and areas in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania who visit Rostock as a day trip.

Tourism industry as an economic factor

Gross sales from tourism in Rostock add up to almost half a billion euros. The great significance of hotels in Rostock is very clear. Across all industries, hospitality services, retailers and services such as culture, leisure and transport all profit from the money our visitors spend here. The amount of money generated by tourism has created around 15,000 jobs. At the same time, the industry generates 7.3% of the primary income of Rostock, contributing significantly to job and income security.

However, tourism is not just regarded as a monetary pillar; it has many other positive effects on the city. There is no doubt that the fame of the city comes from its appeal to tourists, which in turn has a direct influence on the general attractiveness to the location, its residential quality and last but not least, its image.

Quality initiative: rostock on the road to being a quality city

The profiling of tourism facilities and the tourism infrastructure through quality and service is a part of Rostock’s tourism concept. Measures to create more transparency for guests by introducing a uniform quality standard are right at the top of the list. Based on an initiative of the Tourist Centre Rostock and Warnemünde and Rostock Marketing, Rostock has set itself the goal of becoming a “quality city” and being certified by ServiceQualität Deutschland. ServiceQualität Deutschland is a quality management system that applies to all industries, which sets the goal of continuous improvement and further development of service quality. Certification as a quality company is possible for all sectors. In other words, whether your company is a tourism organisation, a craft business, a cultural institute, an insurance company or a bank, any company that provides a service and deals with customers can take part in the quality training on offer.

Conference expertise: rostock convention bureau

The MICE segment is an important tool for promoting tourism, especially in the low season, and has great potential for growth in Rostock. Rostock provides unique conference facilities that meet the requirements of the international market in terms of the hotels and meeting locations on offer, and the quality of the event agencies and wide range of programmes available. In order to ensure that Rostock is advertised as a top conference location, the founding of a convention bureau as a central point of contact for the industry is planned for 2016.